Atlantic Network Abilities for Towns in Local Economy

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Monthly Archives: August 2013

Creative Placemaking has come of its own within the last year, with art and culture at the heart of a portfolio of integrated strategies to drive community transformation through creativity and diversity. The understanding of the value capture of creative placemaking is thanks in no small part to the work of organizations like ArtPlace in the US, the do-it-yourself Artscape in Canada, and private practitioners like Joe Nickol.

Joe will lead this webinar on an exploration of recent breakthroughs in the creative economy, using his UDA work in Nashville as a case study to the elements of creative cities and how they drive innovative economies. In Joe’s words: ”What about our cities enables and sustains this creativity is not a world where there is an artist colony and a separate place that everyone else occupies but a common set of town-building parameters that we all need in order to exercise the inherited or acquired creativity we have to offer. The same set of physical characteristics and relationships that allow a city to harbor world-class music, for example, are equally necessary to develop the newest technologies or innovative economies we thrive on.”

Rubbish is a rather big, costly and challenging beast. Of the £3bn spent each year by businesses on environmental protection, one third is spent on waste management. But companies are not alone in feeling the strain. Local governments across Europe face similar challenges as they consider ways to sort through the tons of waste thrown away every year.

Taming the beast will require the involvement of all levels of government, and concerted action led by Europe’s local authorities. It is broadly agreed that the current loss of resources, cost to businesses and households and impact on the environment must be stopped at all costs.

Italy on Friday banned the cultivation of a genetically modified (GM) corn seed made by US company Monsanto, citing environmental concerns.

The agriculture ministry said Italian and European scientific studies had found that the insect-resistant MON810 seed could harm biodiversity, possibly posing a threat to “aquatic organisms.”

Farming lobby Coldiretti backed the government decision, noting that a poll it commissioned in June showed that 76 per cent of Italians oppose GM crops, DPA reported.

Several other European countries — including France, Germany and Poland — have prohibited MON810, even though such national bans are controversial, since the European Union has yet to decide whether to renew an existing authorisation for the seed.